Traveling Like a Pro--And in Style

I'm sorry I'm a long time getting this posted, but I spent a lot of Thursday sleeping to recover from the trip. Then Friday I had a doctor appointment and spent another batch of time sleeping. So here's the trip report.

We got up at 3 a.m. Denmark time on the morning of 3 September. I'd asked British Airways, who is the airline listed on our electronic ticket, when we needed to be at the airport and they said two hours early. Molly was excited but well-behaved. I hadn't slept much overnight--I'm on antibiotics for my unspecified lung infection and they make me hyper, plus I was excited about the trip. DH woke up with a migraine. Despite all that, we managed to get ourselves fed, Molly walked, and headed to the airport, thanks to DH's friend who drove us.

The check-in desk was not open when we arrived. After we waited and waited and it was less than an hour before our flight, we asked one of the SAS people if they knew when it opened. It turned out it didn't open until 45 minutes before our take off time. Molly waited quietly all this time. She enjoyed watching other people moving around, but didn't whine or bark or get too upset by being still. I took advantage of the opportunity to pass one of her "on the road" tests for the levels. She is able to hold a loose leash while I am seated in my wheelchair and not moving around for a minute despite the distractions of people all over.

When they finally opened, I asked the man there about the arrival time but didn't get a satisfying answer. So if you're ever flying a BA flight done by Sun Air, don't believe them about the 2 hour check-in time.

Sun's flight wasn't booked solid. So Molly and I had the front row with 2 adjacent seats. DH sat across the aisle in a single seat and the couple rows behind us were empty. Molly behaved perfectly. She was a little stressed that DH and I weren't closer together and that she wasn't allowed across the aisle to him, but she dealt with it. Molly got a little motion sick as we were landing (some drool) but nothing serious. We were really impressed.

We then arrived in Oslo. We were met at the airplane by a man with a wheelchair. Although I thought it wouldn't work out, we were able to get my own chair immediately. So he put the airport's chair aside and pushed me in my chair. We didn't have to wait in lines. This man escorted us to the customs area so we could get Molly cleared for going outside. There was a little trouble there. I had the stuff we needed for Denmark and the US, but Norway requires a follow-up to a rabies shot to verify the presence of antibodies and a weird deworming verified by the vet. But they let us take her outside for a potty anyway as long as we promised to keep her on leash. They made an exception because she wasn't staying in the country. But I wanted to mention it to make sure that others traveling thought to verify the requirements of connecting countries.

Then we went to check-in with Continental. The man the airport provided continued to escort us through all this. Once we were checked in properly, he took us to a coffee shop near the door and set up where we should meet him later when it was time to head to the gate. We then took Molly outside, where she pottied on concrete on command in less than 30 seconds. That passes another OtR levels excercise.

Molly was a very good and helpful girl and insisted on cleaning things up off the floor. She hates pieces of paper and such all over.

Then when it was time, the guy came back to get us. We got cut into line to go through the security check. It took a while--I had to have my shoes off and them run separately through the x-ray. Once we were all cleared, the guy pushed me to the gate and Molly walked along side. My poor DH had to carry both carry-ons and stuff.

At the gate, we had to go through a huge mess of checks and stuff because it's a US flight. Had to answer all the questions again about if we'd maintained possession of our bags and if we were carrying anything for anyone, etc., etc. Then I got spot picked for a carry-on search. The guy was really nice about it and lucky for him he picked the backpack that had Molly's stuff in it. The other one would have been really nasty to unpack and repack because it had my meds in it.

While we were waiting at the gate, the cabin crew arrived. A very nice woman stopped to ask some questions about Molly, how we were seated in the plane, and if we'd have enough space. She works for Continental and her name is Latania. Her name tag said she was from or based in Halifax and she managed the cabin crew. I'm telling all this because if you end up on one of her flights, you'll be a very lucky person and because we owe her a huge thanks.

Thanks to her, we were bumped to business class on the very full flight to the US. She wanted to make sure that Molly had plenty of room and a great experience. She came by our seat often to check that we had plenty of room and about half way through the flight asked if she could give Molly the ice cubes that I'd asked for for her. Everyone on the crew was really nice--asking to pet Molly and complimenting her behavior. With being in the higher class, there was plenty of room for Molly's mat to be put on the floor between us the long way and for us to both still have more than enough leg space.

We were, of course, fed a full business class 4 course dinner and plenty to drink. We shared our fortune with Molly, so she got bits and pieces of meat from our dinner, ice cubes from our glasses, etc. She never did end up eating much dry food. I was exhausted after we ate and hurting pretty bad, so I lay back to sleep and DH stayed awake to keep tabs on Molly. Molly actually was able to relax and sleep. She enjoyed looking at the people around us and the attention from the flight attendants.

They offered to find some kind of snacks or something for her, but we didn't want her to have too much. She did end up getting salmon. Our second meal was hamburgers with a first course of salmon. Molly got both of our pieces of salmon. So she also benefitted from the luxury treatment.

Our flight was rather turbulent. The seat belt light kept coming on. But Molly handled it fine and didn't seem to get air sick this time. She was pretty unhappy during landing. She just looked uneasy, but no whining or complaining.

We waited patiently for everyone else to get off before we did. My wheelchair was waiting, but no personal assistant this time. Poor Molly had to keep holding while we went through customs, immigration, and got our bags. Then we had to go to the agriculture people to get Molly checked and because we have horses at home. All that went fine and rather smoothly. I had to answer some questions, but we were prepared. Despite what a woman had told me on the phone before the trip, Molly is not required to get a second rabies shot when she has already had one.

Then we tried to hurry out. Our luggage had had to go through a second check. While DH was loading the luggage onto our $3 cart, Molly had an accident on the floor. She looked so traumatized. She'd been holding since about 4am US time and it was going on 3pm. I also suspect the floor may have been spotted already judging from the carpet. That would make it harder for her to continue to hold. But we immediately threw down a number of paper towels that we'd brought in her vest and called one of the people working there to alert them to the problem and apologize. The guy was really nice and understanding and said he'd take care of it, but we still cleaned the wet paper towels up into a potty bag.

Then we went the rest of the way out and found my parents. They helped us get out to their car for the drive "home" to their place. We made a stop at a park first to give Molly some water and a potty outing. She wasn't really interested in the water but did seem to appreciate the outing.

We went to a TGI Friday's for dinner but let Molly stay in the car. We thought she needed the quiet. It was so nice to have a steak. DH somehow managed to find a Dane to talk to in the bathroom.

Molly got some dinner when we got back to the car. She ate a huge bowl of Orijen dry food. Then we found another potty spot for Molly before going by my grandmother, who lives in a nursing home.

Getting to my parents' place, Molly met cats for the first time. She wants to chase them and move them around. A "leave it" quiets her, but they are very tempting.

The crate I had ordered for her for the time here had arrived, so now she has passed all the crate behaviors on the road. She went in quite happily and stayed in when needed.

So thank you everyone for your good thoughts. A special thanks goes to Latania, whose name I hope I have spelled correctly, for making sure that our Continental flight was so roomy and pleasant.

A Day of Firsts

Today has been quite a day for Molly. We had a long drive because I needed another treatment with a person a good ways from here. She handled that wonderfully despite the heat. DH had blocked off the sun on the worst side with a white sheet to ensure that she wasn't baking in the heat and still had plenty of air. But the car trip was nothing new.

On the way home, we went to the big pet store to which we had a gift certificate. She has been there before, too, so that was nothing new. We had to have her fitted for a seat belt harness and doggie undies for a bitch in heat (she isn't in heat now, but we want to be prepared with well-fitting undies for whenever it hits). She also needed to try on dog booties--I'm worrying about the heat of asphalt burning her feet on occasion and the far different terrain of the east coast of the US for our upcoming trip.

DH fitted the booties and she said nothing and didn't try to remove them. She did lift her feet extremely high and walk fun, but nothing else. She has tried a pair before, so that also wasn't totally new.

Then it was time for the seat belt harness. I can't bend down very well on a good day and not at all after treatment. So I couldn't help. DH and I also had no idea how this should fit. So the shop person fitted it for us. We told Molly to sit and she sat calmly and cooperated perfectly! For strange woman to put it on and adjust it and take it off. I'm proud of her.

Then the woman fitted her again for the undies. Molly was a little less patient that time, but still well behaved (the woman was impressed). The first size was a little small (it fit but had no room for adjustment--Molly seems to be filling out still), so she had to try the next size up. We had to be sure they weren't far too large to sit properly. With two pairs on and off and lots of fiddling, it is understandable that she got a little uneasy. But she didn't do anything bad. She just wasn't totally calm.

We weren't far from where my mare is supposed to be getting covered by a stallion, so we took a quick drive by there. Nothing exciting.

Then comes the huge bunch of firsts. We went to the airport to get her a little used to all the people and the noise of airplanes and everything. We park in the short term parking. It is clearly nearing time for landing and departure, because there is a ton of traffic. I put Molly's harness and vest on her. She needs a potty trip before we go in. The only grass is across the busy driveway. So we walk up to it and I tell her to sit. She sits and waits calmly. When there is enough of a break, we cross the road. I give her her potty command and she does her business--while she is doing that, another car passes and a large sonar airplane takes off about one kilometer from us. She didn't even flip an ear. She's never been that near an airplane before, especially not one of that size. We crossed back, again with perfect behavior.

Next we go into the building. This requires going through a large automatically rotating door. Molly has never, to our knowledge, seen a door like this before. DH was in the section in front of us. Molly did want to pull forward towards him, but otherwise took it totally in stride. Very impressive, IMO, for a very big first.

We walked up and down the airport, past lots of bored people, including a bunch of little kids. Molly loves little kids, but she walked nicely with me and didn't try to pull towards any of the people.

I decided I needed the bathroom. Molly went with me into the handicapped bathroom. This is another first. She's only ever been in the bathroom here at home with me before. She took it calmly, sat on command, and waited patiently until I was ready to go.

She did make one "error" after that--she was very happy to see my DH when we came out and jumped up on him. He often allows her to do this at home, but it's not good in public. But we did get her settled quickly and she was quiet.

We walked around a little more then decided to up to the upper observation floor. We took the elevator. She's never been in one before. Molly looked a little worried when it started moving, but said nothing.

Once upstairs, we sat down in a row of seats facing out over the tarmac where airplanes park for loading and unloading. There was an older couple a little ways away in one set of seats and to the other side there was a family with kids. I told Molly to sit. She sat between us and watched out the windows. Nice and quiet and calm.

When the family with kids walked in front of us, the littlest one probably just having learned to walk and with a pacifier in his mouth, Molly sat calmly and wagged her tail with a cute BC smile on her face. I did put my hand gently on her collar to be sure she couldn't go to the kid, but she didn't even try. Such a good girl!

A little after that, an airplane landed and taxied in. Even though we are inside, it is still very noisy. But she just sat there and looked and looked around at the people.

After it was parked, we also started hearing lots of yappy small dog barking. We decided it was time to call it a day and went back down in the elevator and out to the car.

All in all, it was a very successful first outing to the airport. She was calm and controlled despite the people and her biggest weakness--children. We don't have access to children on a regular basis, so it isn't something we can easily control to train her with. We only can rely on public access situations.

Our firsts for the day:

First time having a stranger fit her with a harness and undies. She's used to her BeBop harness and thrift shop kids underwear with tail holes cut in them, but that is at home and with me and DH. Being calm for a stranger she'd never met before is a very big deal, making it worthy of a first list.

First trip to the airport.

First exposure to big noisy airplanes.

First rotating door.

First trip to a public bathroom.

First time in an elevator.

First time sitting around in a no-regular-dogs-allowed space (somewhere to which she only has access because she's an SD).

What a day!

Obviously she has gotten lots of praise throughout the time. I didn't even take treats with me because I know she doesn't want them and often spits them out if she even takes them. So we had only praise to let her know she was doing the right thing.

Since we got home, she's also gotten a lot of treats.


You'll have to forgive the lack of pictures. Airport security forbids photography.